The Parker Lot Halloween Special
The Parker Lot Halloween Special is the first Parker Lot story arc that began on October 5, 2009 and ended on October 25, 2009. The comic featured the first appearance of the now-main character Scooter Williams and was written and created by BuddyComics, under the name "BloodyComics", as usual. The story arc originally had a larger plot and guest writers, but was cut due to a late production start after the release of the promotional image, which was made a month before the special began. The comic takes place at Matt's Halloween Party, where he invited most of his friends, and the events that all happened around it. It went on for four comics and covered the whole month of October for the webcomic. The comic recieved generally positive reviews and had high ratings and many favorites upon being posted. The success led to more story arcs, which was followed by The Birth of Matt and inspired the development of a sequel to the Halloween Special, which BuddyComics announced could happen. Plot Jim finds Matt's spare clothes which he left at his house. Jim later uses it, which scares Scooter when he gets ready for Matt's Halloween party at his house and later scares Matt as well. Soon, a bully sets up a game of bobbing for apples and convinces Joe Mama to play. Joe Mama states he doesn't like the game although after being persuaded by him, he plays the game only to be drowned. Near the end, they all cut pumpkins in different styles with Scooter cutting his with the hook on his costume and the bully by stabbing it repeatedly with a knife. Characters *Matt Parker *Jim *Scooter Williams (first appearance) *Joe Mama *Bully (first appearance) Costumes *Matt as nothing, but with a shirt that reads, "Boo Yeah!" *Jim as Matt *Scooter as a pirate *Joe Mama as Frankenstein Promo only *Matt as Michael Jackson in Thriller costume *Robby as Bender from Futurama Production This is the first story arc of the whole comic although very few changes were made. The halloween special had production began on in September 2009, due to a late start. BuddyComics originally said if it is not finished in time, it will be delayed until 2010. BuddyComics has stated it shortly before it began, on a change of plans, will be uploaded within the time of Halloween in short three-panel strips like the comic itself. As a reference to The Simpsons, BuddyComics put his name as a "scary name", which he put down as "BloodyComics". The Joe Mama scene was a reference to the Agatha Christie novel, Hallowe'en Party, which BuddyComics wasn't aware of until after he posted the third comic. In the promo, Robby was originally Bender from Futurama and Matt was dressed as Michael Jackson was in Thriller, which was added as a tribute. Trivia *This is the first Parker Lot story arc, which is not part of the comic strip. *This marked the first appearance of Scooter, who then became a main character. *The comic, Scared, though takes place during Halloween, is not related the Halloween Special. *Another character who is not named, but identified as a bully will make his first appearance. *Robby the Robot was originally going to appear although he never did. *The bully in this comic is one of the few characters to appear in two straight comics other than Matt or Jim. *This is the last comic to be made in the traditional format, which after this comic, changed to a new one. Cultural references *Robby's costume in the promo is a reference to Bender from the show Futurama. *Matt seems to be wearing a Thriller jacket and outfit similar to Michael Jackson in the promo, as a tribute. *The scene where Joe Mama is drowned is a reference to Agatha Christie's novel, Hallowe'en Party. *A reference to The Simpsons is the "scary name" of BuddyComics in the title. Reception Upon the post of the promo, anticipation was expressed through comments. Most comics were favorited, sometimes by being on the featured page by the timing of the post. The ratings were high with some comics getting 5 out of 5, by some DrunkDuck users who reviewed it very positive. Like most other comics, each comic was at least favorited by deviantART users and a user on the internet called the third comic "hilarious". Sequel BuddyComics states that if it is successful, he will make a sequel in 2010, under the working title The Parker Lot Halloween Special II, and he will attempt to get guest writers, who have expressed interest in writing for Parker Lot. BuddyComics also hints it may include what wasn't in the Halloween special, but in the promo instead. Even though not be released a year later, BuddyComics has already began production on a sequel. The comic was originally just a murder story but BuddyComics claimed he may make a three-story arc similar to The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror series. BuddyComics wrote one about a zombie epidemic with short gags and two unknown stories, though the murder story may appear as part of the story arc. The comic would be expected to be released in October 2010, with many comics in the month or before. All of these ideas were changed as it was revealed there is an upcoming 2011 story called Parker Mash, which is a three-part story that references three different movies that is the same as what was planned only without the zombie story and the murder story being replaced with a parody of "Paranormal Activity". The other parts are parodies of "Teen Wolf" and "Frankenstein". External links *http://buddycomics.deviantart.com/art/Early-Halloween-Sketch-135485843